Conversations with Heroes
by jespah
Summary: On March 19th, 2154, filmmaker Carlos Castillo interviews members of the NX-01 crew about their impressions and memories of the Xindi War.
1. 1 - Introduction

1 – Introduction

"My name is Carlos Castillo. I am an independent filmmaker, and have been granted exclusive access to the crew of the _NX-01_ at this, the conclusion of the Xindi War."

Carlos took a breath and then returned to his recording. "The following are some of the data tapes taken from interviews mostly held on March 19th of 2154. The footage is raw and uncut. I offer it as documentation of the war by the men and women who fought it. My hope is that this information can become a part of the permanent archive."

He coughed a little before continuing. "My choice of subjects might be a bit unconventional. I had access to anyone who was not injured. I realize that it might be questioned as to why, for the most part, I am not offering interviews with the higher ups on board. While I did speak with them, I wanted to begin with these people. My experience has been that war isn't just fought by generals on horses, or strategists pushing abstract figurines around a map on a table. It is also fought by the people in the trenches. And their stories deserve to be told as well."


	2. 2 - Captain Jonathan Archer

2 – Captain Jonathan Archer

"I am speaking with Jonathan Archer, the captain of the _Enterprise_, registry number _NX-01_. Captain, please tell me your age."

"I'm forty-one years old."

"What was your most indelible moment during the war?"

"Huh," Archer thought for a moment. "I think it was when we were raided by Osaarian pirates, and then we captured one of them, when we first got into the Delphic Expanse."

"Why does that particular moment stand out for you? I imagine a lot of people would have pegged you for the attack on Earth, or the time when the Xindi ultimate weapon was finally stopped."

"It is not that those moments aren't indelible. But, but this one? There are times," the captain explained, "in your life when you just, you can almost watch them unfolding, as if you were removed from them, and they were just some show on the viewer. They seem unreal, like slow motion, and you're disconnected from them."

"So why did _this_ moment feel unreal and disconnected for you, Captain?"

"It was; it was the first moment that I crossed a line that I never thought I would cross. Our mission was already threatened. And so I fought back."

"Was that line crossed more than once?"

A nod.

"Surely your crew participated."

"No, it was just me. I alone am responsible. Now turn off that damned camera."


	3. 3 - Crewman Maryam Haroun

3 – Crewman Maryam Haroun

"Tell me your name and age, and your rank, please."

"My name is Maryam Haroun. I am a crewman, and I am twenty-four."

"Maryam, what do you do on the ship?"

"My first job was in Navigation, but I switched over during the war to help with Communications." She tugged nervously on her hijab.

"What sticks out the most in your mind about the Xindi War?"

"I, I know that this experience, my experience, it is not shared by most. But every day, Azar Hamidi, Ramih Azar and I, we all stop what we are doing and we face Mecca and we pray."

"How often is that?"

"It is five times each day. But, but at the end of the war, when we were really pushing, we could not. And you feel so, so lost and unsure of yourself. And we then, we lost people. We lost Corporal Hawkins, and then we, we lost Major Hayes. I did not know either of them well at all, not even their first names, you see. But I cannot help but to feel that by, by not praying, we somehow, we failed them." She began to weep quietly.

"Can you go on?"

"N-no. I am sorry."


	4. 4 - Ensign Charlotte Lilienne O'Day

4 – Ensign Charlotte Lilienne O'Day

"Can you give me your name, age and rank for anyone viewing this documentary, please?"

"My name is Charlotte Lilienne O'Day. I'm an Ensign, and I'm almost forty-five years old."

"What sticks out for you about the war, Charlotte?"

"You can, um, call me Lili. It was, uh, it was 2153. Insectoids had boarded the ship. Two of them came into the kitchen, where I work. It was Thanksgiving, and I had just put the last of the turkeys into the ovens. I was starting to peel and slice sweet potatoes, to make fries."

"Go on."

"So the two Insectoids came in. I was alone – I think Chef Slocum was, uh, actually, I don't know where Will was. I had a cast iron skillet out and there was already some oil in the pan. I turned up the flame on all of the burners on that one stove, and took the French knife, too. I, I'm not much of a warrior or anything. It just, it seemed like something I could do to defend myself, as I had forgotten my sidearm that day."

"And then?"

"The two Insectoids split up. I used to play baseball in High School, lo these many years ago. So I leaned into my swing and I whacked the remaining Insectoid in the face with the, the cast iron skillet. I'm, I'm not proud of this. There was a uniform patch, and it was translated. It was the Insectoid soldier's name. Her name was _She Who Almost Didn't Breed In Time_. Mr. Castillo, are you, can you reach people?"

"I don't think I follow you."

"Is there any way to reach her family?"

"I don't know. Do you want to apologize to them?"

"I'm not so sure that sorry is enough. But I think at least I should try to connect with, with her children. I mean, after all, this was, oh God, this was somebody's _mother_."


	5. 5 - Ensign Jennifer Crossman

5 – Ensign Jennifer Crossman

"My name is Jennifer Crossman. I'm an Ensign in the Engineering Department. I'm twenty-three."

"Why don't you talk about when you first saw a Xindi, of any species, Jennifer?"

"Okay. The first one I actually saw in person was a Humanoid, his name was Degra. It was late in '53. We were, uh, Commander Tucker and José Torres and Meredith Porter and me, we rigged a shuttle simulator. It was supposed to convince Degra that he and Captain Archer had escaped from somewhere or other. I think it was supposed to be an Insectoid prison. Maybe it was Reptilian; I'm not sure anymore. So we had added on all of these doodads to the simulator make it all feel authentic, yanno? There was a big, long movie loop of star fields that had to sync up and play out of the viewing portals. We had to simulate engine sounds and bumps, and just try to think of every contingency. Part of the time, I remember, Torres and Private Frank Todd and Mike Rostov just pushed the thing and manually rocked it."

"Sounds like an interesting challenge."

"I guess so. But I always felt kinda bad for Degra, that we had this really elaborate scheme cooked up to make him think that Captain Archer was his friend. And, well, I think they might've become friends later, but they weren't then. I always hated how we lied to that guy."


	6. 6 - Lieutenant Malcolm Reed

6 – Lieutenant Malcolm Reed

"My name is Malcolm Reed. I am the ship's Armory Officer, with the rank of Lieutenant. I am forty-one years of age."

"Let's talk about heroics."

"Then you should not be speaking with me."

"No?"

"_No_." The Lieutenant's tone was that of annoyance. "You should be conducting a bloody séance and speaking with Major Jay Hayes. He's the hero. Not, not me."

"Tell us –"

"_No_." The tone became even more peeved. "The Major deserves the accolades. Put that in your, your documentary that he saved Ensign Sato, and he died whilst doing so. Tell your, your viewers that if they're, they're looking 'round for someone to erect a bloody statue to, to look no further than Major Jay Hayes." The Lieutenant folded his arms and glanced away and then downwards.

"What would you tell his family, if you could speak with them right now?"

The Lieutenant unfolded his arms and looked up after a moment, his jaw set and his eyes bloodshot. "I would, I would apologize to them for having drawn the long straw, for Jay clearly drew the, the short one in February."


	7. 7 - Conclusion (Filmmaker C Castillo)

7 – Conclusion (Filmmaker Carlos Castillo)

"I don't know how much of this footage can be used. I bet everyone would love to have a nice, neat documentary. I know there are those who would want to see a sanitized version of this conflict. In some ways, I suppose it would be easier to just wave a flag or even a magic wand and kind of wish away all of the ugliness to be found here."

Carlos rubbed his eyes. "I would have loved an easy way out here. And I almost thought that would be the case, when I took this freelance assignment. I thought it would be all rah-rah and maybe a bit jingoistic. And I would pack up and be done with it and easily move onto my next assignment."

He sighed. "But it's hard to not be affected, or to see what could have happened if one thing, or another, was different. These people certainly see it that way. And the reality is that this is, for the most part, just a ship full of damaged people. I know that there are those who are happy and excited about the conclusion of this war. I can't say that I haven't felt my own sense of relief, for I most certainly have. But I think we, as humans and citizens of Earth, I think we need to keep these people's thoughts and aspirations and guilt and personal pain in our heads as we wave our flags and sing the United Earth anthem. We need to remember that these heroes come complete with consciences, and miseries and regrets. This victory did not come without a price. Thank you." There was a coffee cup on a table nearby, and he knocked it across the filming room, hard.

_Cut to black_.


End file.
